If you’re looking to buy a VR headset this year, then you should no doubt consider an Oculus Quest 2, one of the best VR headsets of 2020. Facebook’s latest release for the wireless headset brings some big improvements, including one higher refresh rate, high resolution and most importantly a lower starting price. There really are no downsides to bringing this over the original quest.
That’s a big deal when you consider how malleable the Quest 2 really is, especially if you have a powerful PC that adds more graphically sophisticated additions to the game library on the go. Since the first Quest, you’ve been able to plug the headset into a PC and play games developed for the (now discontinued) Oculus Rift, as well as any SteamVR title. Oculus has even made it easier by relaxing the requirements of the cable you are using so that even the included charging cable can be used. If your PC is powerful enough, you can immerse yourself in the extensive library of Oculus Rift games without the need for additional hardware.
However, when you enjoy the freedom of true wireless VR that the Quest offers, it is difficult to get back on the hook. However, with the right setup and a little patience, you can replicate this with PC-based titles using an app called Virtual Desktop.
Virtual Desktop allows you to stream the contents of your desktop over your Wi-Fi network to Oculus Quest, similar to Remote Play on the Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5. The app is optimized for VR, meaning that the setup allows you to achieve the low latency needed so that you don’t get sick immediately when you move.
The only downside is the initial setup, which can be a bit cumbersome. You need to learn how to sideload apps onto the Oculus Quest. To do this, you need to switch the headset to developer mode and play around on the PC. It’s not overly complicated, however, and UploadVR has a comprehensive guide to walk you through the entire process.
Virtual desktop is also $ 20 and you need to make sure you can plug your PC directly into your router. Your router is also an important part of the chain as a whole. For the best results, a 5 GHz band must be supported to ensure the strongest connection to the headset. If you can also keep this frequency open for the quest only, it will help your experience.
I used Virtual Desktop and my original Oculus Quest to play through Half-Life: Alyx earlier this year after hours of trying to get Oculus Link to work reliably with no success. After the initial hurdle in setting up, getting back into the games was a breeze and the overall experience was incredibly powerful. Not only were the images sharp, but the latency was also not noticeable, even when I was caught in a fierce firefight or had to pull a head crab out of my face. Best of all, no cables to trip over.
It’s not a solution that works for everyone, and Oculus Link has certainly gotten better since the beginning of the year. But for $ 20 and a little bit of time, it’s worth trying out playing PC VR games in a potentially transformative way.
We test Alyx with half-life on every major VR headset
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